College Basketball: Jacob Hammond and Jordan Woodard Commit to Oklahoma

Head coach Lon Kruger received his first commitments for the 2013 and 2014 classes on Thursday.

According to a tweet by Evan Daniels of Scout.com, Jordan Woodard and Jacob Hammond made verbal commitments to the Sooners.

Both prospects are from the state of Oklahoma. This is a very good sign for Oklahoma fans, as coach Lon Kruger hopes to put together strong classes in his second year with the Sooners. Last year, in Kruger's first year, the Oklahoma Sooners went 16-17 and struggled in Big 12 play.

Jordan Woodard is a 4-star point guard from Edmond Memorial High School in Oklahoma. Rivals.com ranks him the 122nd best player and ESPN has him as the 26th best point guard in the class of 2013. As a junior, Woodard averaged 13.1 points, 4.7 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 2.4 steals. Stanford, San Francisco and Memphis were also interested in the 6'0" combo guard.

Woodard told SoonerNation of his commitment to the Sooners: "I just felt like it was time," Woodard said. "No school and no coach had shown as much interest in me the way OU has. The Sooners have been talking to me since my sophomore year."

Shane Cowherd, Woodard's high school coach, told NewsOK that “Oklahoma is getting a kid who knows how to win, which is definitely a valuable skill. He loves the struggle of competition. He embraces it, absolutely thrives in competition, and you have to have that at the collegiate level.”

ESPN's Scouting Reports said of Woodard:

At his size, you can either play or you spend time faking it. Woodard can hoop. For a little guy, he finds all kinds of ways to get himself to the line.

Jacob Hammond, Picture from ESPN.com

The Sooner's second commitment of the day came from the 6'10" 235 lb center Jacob Hammond.

The junior big man attends home school in Oklahoma City. Hammond has only been playing basketball for a couple of years, but he caught the eye of Oklahoma coaching staff during the Oklahoma Elite Combine last summer.

Hammond has a lot of potential with good inside moves on offense; he is very strong on the defensive side of the court. Because he is home schooled he hasn't been noticed like other prospects—Oklahoma is the only team to offer Hammond a scholarship.

Hammond told SoonerNation about his commitment, "I feel like I have connected real well with the coaches the entire time. OU was the first school to show interest. They let me know early that they wanted me."

The Oklahoma Sooners have three incoming freshmen guards in the 2012 class and also added two junior college transfers for the 2012-2013 season. Coach Kruger has been coaching now for more than 25 years and doesn't seem to be slowing down with the Sooners.

In order for OU to compete against Baylor, Kansas and Oklahoma State, they must recruit like the other Big 12 schools do.